File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Tourism Report

Tourism Kamloops reports dip in overall visitors but record high in direct spending in 2024

May 5, 2025 | 7:47 AM

KAMLOOPS — Tourism Kamloops is reporting more quality and less quantity when it came to the value of visits in 2024.

According to Tourism Kamloops’ Economic Impact Report on Tourism, which was produced by Larose Research & Strategy and Pacific Analytics, nearly 1.87 million travelers made their way to the Tournament Capital in 2024.

While the overall visitor total is down from the record 1.96 million travelers Kamloops welcomed in 2022, Tourism Kamloops says there was $316 million in direct visitor spending in the city, a new record.

“These results demonstrate that Kamloops’ visitor economy is diverse and can still thrive during challenging times,” Erik Fisher, Tourism Kamloops CEO states. “It’s great to see Kamloops is starting to not only recognize tourism but prioritize it.”

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“The seasonal disruption is something we work really hard at at tourism Kamloops. It speaks to the necessity to invest more in infrastructure to provide more of a year round product in Kamloops, not just for visitors but for residents too, improving residents quality life is very important to us also,” said Fisher.

“We seem to keep stumbling upon unprecedented times, but in Kamloops we think this is a great oppritunity for people in the pacific northwest,” said Fisher. “We think people in British Columbia and Alberta are looking closer to home for amazing travel experiences. We think our friends south of the border are interested in Canada as well with the dollar being a strong as it is.”

Tourism Kamloops cited challenges in attracting visitors in 2024, including inflation and wildfire concerns.

The Economic Impact Report on Tourism also finds that the Thompson-Nicola region saw $382 million in total economic impacts due to Kamloops-based tourism in 2024. Additionally, the report finds tourism supported 2,645 jobs in Kamloops in 2024 while also bringing in $8.5 million in local government taxes.

The report can be viewed here.